Malignant Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is not always malignant.
It is possible for it to be benign which is much less
dangerous. Benign mesothelioma affects males much more
than females and can grow to such a large size that
it will compress the lungs. Malignant mesothelioma is an
uncontrolled growth of a tumor that invades nearby tissue and
spreads throughout the body destroying the body as it moves along.

In order for doctors to diagnosis a person with benign or
malignant mesothelioma they will look for early symptoms like
lower back pain or chest pain and shortness of breath.
Because these are very general symptoms, it is rare to receive
an early diagnosis. More commonly a doctor will need to
do a full medical history and look for exposure to
asbestos. They will also need the sue of a CT scan or
CAT scan and even an MRI scan. Then to make a positive
confirmation they will need to biopsy the tissue by inserting
a needle into the suspected area and removing some fluid for
testing.

Once a positive diagnosis is made the doctor will treat the
malignant mesothelioma is by either operating on the patient
to remove the cancer, radiation therapy which uses x-rays to
kill the malignant area or chemotherapy. Click here for
more information about mesothelioma
treatment.

There are also several clinical trials dealing with
malignant mesothelioma. The University of Chicago Cancer
Research Center is currently recruiting patients with
localized malignant mesothelioma, advanced malignant
mesothelioma, recurrent malignant mesothelioma, and
others to test a possible new Phase II chemotherapy
treatment. Click here for more information about research articles
and clinical trials.